Appointments

We offer a variety of pre-bookable and on the day appointments with both doctors and nurses. All surgeries are by appointment, including emergency appointments, and should be booked in advance.

If you would like to see a doctor urgently:

All requests to see a doctor will be assessed by a triage doctor before you are given an appointment.

You will need to telephone the surgery on 01903 735200 and ask for an appointment. If you can give the receptionist some information as to why you would like to see the doctor or nurse, this will help in directing you to the most appropriate clinician.

You will need to provide a telephone number that we can contact you on when we call. A doctor will call you back as soon as possible. Our aim would be to be within two hours. If they can help you over the phone, they will or they will book an appropriate appointment with you at the time.

Doctors will be triaging all morning so you do not need to call at 08:00, although before 10:00 would be helpful.

If you have an on-going condition:

If you are already seeing a doctor regularly regarding an on-going condition, reception will be able to book you in with that doctor up to two weeks in advance, availability permitting.

Minor Illness Clinics

Our highly qualified nurses also run a daily minor illness clinic for coughs, colds, earaches, rashes etc. Our receptionists can advise if this would be an appropriate appointment for you.

Non-urgent Requests

If you would like your test results or a new sick note or have a request that is not urgent for that day, we would ask that you telephone us later in the day. If you wish to talk to a doctor about your test results etc, it is always best to speak to the doctor who organised the tests for you. Sometimes this will mean you might be asked to wait a couple of days if that doctor is unavailable. Reception can let him or her know that you would like to speak to them and will advise you as to when they are likely to call you.

In the case of you needing urgent action as a result of a test, we will always contact you as soon as possible.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Online Services - Appointments and Repeat Prescriptions

With our online services through 'SystmOnline' you can now access your local GP services at home, work or on the move — wherever you can connect to the internet. What's more, because 'SystmOnline' is a 24 hour online service you can do this in your own time, day or night.

You can:

book an appointment;

order repeat prescriptions and request medication;

view your Summary Care Record (specific consent required);

change your contact details;

take part in our practice questionnaires and surveys.

Please note: These will only include routine GP appointments, blood tests, cervical screening and smoking cessation.

Guidance on how to use the service can be found below.

If you have an iPhone you can download the 'SystmOnline' app from the App Store, or from Google Play for Android phones.

The registration is simple - You can either to come into the practice to complete a consent form or you can print out the form below, fill it out and bring it into the practice. Once we have updated our records and registered you at the practice to use the online services we will issue you with a username and password.

Parents will be able to have a username and password for their children. Similarly, carers of people with disabilities will be able to take a username and password for them.

Enter your user name and password and click 'Login'. You will then see the SystmOnline Home Page, which shows your details and Fitzalan Medical Group's contact details at the top.

You can navigate to all the online services from here, and can return to the Home Page by clicking 'Home' in the blue menu bar, or by clicking the 'Back' button on any page.

Managing Prescriptions with SystmOnline

For certain drugs, you can request a new prescription.

Click the Current Prescriptions link on the Home Page, or the Current Prescriptions button on the main menu bar.

All current repeat prescriptions are listed with the drug, dosage, quantity, last issued date and status. An empty tick box in the left-hand column means you can ask for a new prescription for that drug.

To request a repeat prescription:

Select the drug by ticking the box in the left-hand column. If the item you require is not listed or if you need to include further information with your request, type the details into the Medication Request Notes field. When providing this information, you should bear in mind that it may be visible to all practice staff.

Click Request Medication. The Medication Order Summary is displayed, stating that a request has been sent to the practice to re-prescribe the item(s).

Click Return to Current Medication to return to the Current Prescriptions page where the status of the drug will show that it has been requested.

Changing your SystmOnline Password

You will initially be given a random password but you can change this to something more memorable. Passwords must be eight or more characters long and must contain at least one number and one non-alphanumeric character, e.g. '!' or '?'

Click the Change Password link on the Home Page.

Enter the current password.

Enter the new password.

Re-enter the new password.

Click Submit. You are advised to memorise the new password, and not to write it down or disclose it to anyone else.

Click Back.

If you forget your password

You can either contact the surgery and request a new password or if you have provided us an email address you will be able to do this by clicking the "I've forgotten my password" link.

Accessing Your Medical Record Online

You can now access your coded medical records via our online system. Please see the PDF leaflet below for more information and the benefits of access. Records viewed will only show from 1st April 2016 onwards.

If you wish to apply to see your record, please login to here with your username and password and request access, or ask at Reception. Please allow 28 days to process your request.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

Training Practice

Fitzalan Medical Group has been accredited as being suitable for the training of junior doctors. This means that the practice and doctors have had to achieve a number of standards which have been assessed by the GP Deanery for Kent, Surrey and Sussex, acting on behalf of two national organisations: the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

We have a number of grades of junior doctors who work and receive training in the practice:

GP Specialty training Registrars

Foundation Year 2 doctors

Year 5 Medical Students

Paramedic Practitioners

GP Specialty training Registrars (GPStRs) are in specialist training before becoming a General Practitioner. They will have had experience of a variety of hospital posts, having been qualified as a doctor for at least two years before coming into general practice.

Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors are in their second year of their Foundation programme following qualification as a doctor. The Foundation programme is aimed at giving junior doctors a wide experience of working in a variety of clinical settings at an early stage of their medical careers. Not all Foundation Senior House Officers will pursue a career in general practice.

Both GPStRs and FY2 doctors are fully qualified doctors who are able to treat and advise patients in general practice. They are supervised by one of the doctors, who will be their trainer.

If you are seeing such a doctor you can expect to receive the quality of service you would from your own GP If you have any concerns please mention this to a member of staff.

In order for the GPStRs to successfully complete their training they need to be assessed on their consulting skills. This is done by the appointed assessors viewing a video of the Registrar's consultations. You may be asked for your permission to have your consultation recorded in this way. If you agree, you will need to give your written permission. A consent form which you will be offered, is available at the front desk. If the doctor appears to be recording your consultation and you have not signed a consent form, then you should indicate this to him or her immediately. The recording will be used for educational purposes only. Further information about this process and the confidentiality of it can be obtained from the reception staff.

Year 5 Medical Students spend 4 weeks in the practice. They do not see patients on their own and will always be with an experienced doctor.

Paramedic Practitioners spend 8 weeks in the practice, they are paramedics with at least 5 years experience. They shadow the doctors and are able to do some visits.

To ensure that the practice continues to meet the standards for training in the KSS Deanery, the practice and the doctors will be subject to regular inspection visits (normally every three years). At this inspection another doctor will assess the quality of the patient records. If you do not want your own record to be available for inspection then please inform the practice of your wishes and they will be respected. Please ask any member of the reception staff for further information if needed.

At Fitzalan Medical Group we are committed to looking after our patients and to supporting our patients to look after themselves.

Below are some fact sheets for the top most ten most common ailments that are free to read and download: